Scripture: Genesis 2 v 16 - 17: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Hebrews 5 v 14: "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
From the very beginning our Creator commanded the first humans to beware of the knowledge of good and evil. The combination of the two is a lethal mix for us. That those original beings broke that commandment and opened a Pandora's Box of evil and death that has continued and intensified for 6000 years.
Only the sinless Son of God could deal with it effectively by the extreme of laying down His own life to free us from eternal separation from God. We are spirit beings who have a soul and body. At the Cross every human being is given the potential to be saved through being born again.
It is not automatic, you must understand conviction of sin and repent, change your mind about enjoying sinful pleasures, and proclaim Jesus as Lord of your life. There is no set prayer in the Bible, but it is a helpful guide to follow. Your salvation is completed by baptism in water. You can then be baptized by Jesus with the Holy Spirit, and be a witness for Him.
Along the way you need to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Philippians 2 v 12 - 13: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
Before you met Jesus you collected spiritual baggage that blinded you to the truth of the gospel. Drugs, alcohol, forbidden sex, lies, false religion, rebellion, pride, etc which are now forgiven by God, but are still present in our nature. You are still vulnerable to temptation until you deal with the memories of past hurts that led you to escape into sex, drugs or alcohol.
1 Corinthians 12 v 7 - 10: "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:"
The above verses are a list of all the wonderful gifts of the Holy Spirit. To those who deny these are for today, you need to blank out many pages of your Bible. Only those who have never had the joy of being used of God in all or any of these gifts can deny them.
You need to discern between good and evil in your own life before you can help others to know Jesus. In Hebrews it states that when you are spiritually mature you will even be able to discern through your physical senses. Your 'nose for trouble' can be enhanced into a powerful tool for discerning an evil spirit.
Certain diseases give off a distinctive odour that many good doctors recognize. Evil spirits have distinctive smells too. Humans have pheromones, or signature smells too. Dogs use this sense to help police airports for banned substances. A mature believer will have a gift from the Holy Spirit to discern good and evil. Interesting how this was one of the first symptoms of Covid 19 - loss of sense of smell. The enemy prefers to spread his evil undetected.
You discern good when you can discern another believer through the contact of your spirit with theirs. You can immediately determine that the other person is in the light of Jesus by an inward witness. A knowing, an insight and a feeling of trust. The Spirit of Jesus within you both has made a connection and you will enjoy sweet fellowship together. When Jesus is present with you, you can sometimes smell a beautiful rose called the Rose of Sharon.
You discern an evil presence when your senses are alerted by the Holy Spirit to feel, see, hear, smell or taste something He wants you to deal with immediately. Your obedience can save lives, prevent disasters and open people's eyes to Jesus. When you walk in the Spirit for many years, these discernments become as natural as breathing.
Over the years I have come across a number of people who were discerning through their senses but never knew what it actually meant. To some who read this today and connect the dots, ask Jesus to show you the deeper meaning and pray accordingly. It may be for yourself, your family or complete strangers that you are praying, but be obedient to Him no matter what.
When the Apostle John was receiving revelations from Jesus he had a taste of honey in His mouth which made his belly bitter. A similar thing happened to Ezekiel the prophet in the Old Testament.
Revelation 10 v 10: "And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."
Ezekiel 3 v 3 - 4: "And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them."
So if you are filled with the Holy Spirit expect Him to open your understanding and use His revelation gifts to bring help to others. It is a great honour and very rewarding.
2 Corinthians 10 v 3 - 5: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"
Our prayer life should be enhanced by doing battle with the enemy with our spiritual weapons. The Holy Spirit will teach and guide us to pull down strongholds over those who have been captured by Satan. Close family members that stop communicating with you may be struggling with chains you cannot see with the physical sense but you know something is wrong. They cannot make eye contact with you. Demons know that you can see them through their eyes. The pupils change, maybe even the colour of the eyes has changed. Then you know you are dealing with a demon.
If you are new to this get hold of a pastor from a Pentecostal Church. He will be able to help. It's not wise to try tackle an evil spirit alone. It is much better to learn from someone experienced in deliverance. I was thrown in at the deep end after I took in a woman and her daughters who were in danger of being harmed by her husband.
I only found out later that he was a satanist. We had months of learning experience with a team from our church. Not for the faint-hearted that's for sure. But it had to be done and I am exceedingly glad the Lord led me in this direction. If you have never seen a before and after of a person bound by demons, there is never only one, you have not witnessed the power of Jesus in action against His enemy. And the beautiful result of one released from his evil clutches.
Prayer: Heavenly Father You have equipped us to live and walk as Jesus did. Even as Moses did when You rained down manna for the Israelites in the Wilderness, and for Jesus when You filled the baskets with bread and fish to feed the multitude. Nothing is too difficult for You! Please Father open us up to receive the ability to discern between good and evil; and to discern true from false so we can be in safety, as well as helping others. In Jesus' name. Amen.